Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus was a theropod dinosaur from Middle Cretaceous Africa. It was the largest theropod dinosaur ever to live. It appeared on the first episode of Planet Dinosaur. Facts Spinosaurus hunted giant fish like Onchopristis in rivers and streams. It usually came into combat with other predators like Carcharodontosaurus when it was hunting on land. It is currently considered to be the largest carnivorous dinosaur. In the episode Lost World, it is the main creature of the episode, and also one of the largest, weighing in at 3-3.5 tons, measuring in at 53 feet long and standing 20 feet tall including the sail. But, excluding the sail, it stood 17 feet tall. In Planet Dinosaur Episode 1: Lost World In the episode's beginning, it heads towards a river to catch Onchopristis on their migration to their mating grounds, and spooks a herd of Ouranosaurus in the process. After catching one, it eats its fill then leaves, and the prehistoric sawfish's carcass is scavenged by a Rugops. Later on during the dry season, it tries scavenging a dead Ouranosaurus, but is scared off by a Sarcosuchus although in reality the Spinosaurus would have fought the the large crocodile and might have won. It has a battle with a'' Carcharodontosaurus'' for food and takes the victory, but its sail is severely damaged. This fight scene may be a refference to Jurassic Park III. It is unknown whether or not the crest on its head existed, but if it did it was probably only featured on males for sexual display. The most striking feature about Spinosaurus is its sail, with some of the spines measuring 6 feet tall. Most likely they were used for sexual display or scaring off rival carnivores like Carcharodontosaurus or Rugops. Another feature is its crocodile-like skull. It would have been helpful in catching fish, yet crocodiles also eat large herbivores and birds, spinosaurus may have also fed on herbivores such as Ouranosaurus and Paralititan at times, suggesting that it was an adaptable hunter that could fish, hunt, and scavenge on whatever it wanted with little fear of attack. Its arms were among the largest of any carnivorous dinosaur at about 7 feet long, an omnivore which had the second largest arms of all dinosaurs is Deinocheirus which had arms measuring 9 feet long. Therizinosaurus had the largest arms, measuring 10 feet long. Paleontologist John Horner said this about Spinosaurus: "If we were to match a carnivore's size with its power, then nothing could stand in the path of Spinosaurus. It could kill whatever it wanted, and could steal prey from others with little fear of injury." John Horner is correct about this. Tests have been done with mechanical Spinosaurus arms, and the forces were enough to dent the doors on an armored car. Spinosaurus went extinct about 65.5 million years ago, after walking the earth for 44.5 million years. The most likely reason for its extinction is that an asteroid struck earth which triggered the K-T extinction. Gallery Spinosaurus2.jpg|Spinosaurus Spinosaurus vs Carcharodontosaurus.jpg|Spinosaurus fights Carcharodontosaurus Spinosaurus 3.jpg Spinosaurus.jpg Spinosaurus1.jpg Category:Planet Dinosaur Wiki Category:Creatures Category:Dinosaurs Category:protected pages Category:Cretaceous Category:Carnivores Category:Spinosaurids